Sara T. Stacy, PhD

Dr. Sara T. Stacy is a Senior Research Associate at the Evaluation Services Center (ESC) in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. Since joining the Center in 2021, she leads and supports a diverse array of projects that serve young people and communities, including partnerships with community-based organizations, public libraries, out-of-school time programs, and education partners. She is currently the project co-lead for the statewide evaluation of 21st Century Community Learning Centers in Ohio and has led several projects that involve community-based data collection approaches. 

To each project, she brings her training and expertise in community psychology, which enables her to develop collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholders to design, implement, and evaluate initiatives. She has experience leading and developing participatory, qualitative, and mixed methods data collection approaches to meaningfully engaging diverse stakeholders into evaluation and decision-making processes. In addition, she has developed a growing expertise in data visualization, reporting, and design to ensure information is presented in ways that support further insights and action. 

Ph.D. in Ecological-Community Psychology: Michigan State University 2021

M.A. in Ecological-Community Psychology: Michigan State University 2018

B.A. in Psychology: University of Cincinnati 2015 (Minor in Philosophy)

Peer Reviewed Publications

Lessard, L., Stacy, S. T., Culotta, C. M., Glueckert, K.  (2025). Developing a validated family‐school partnership assessment for child health and well‐being: A multidimensional approach. . Journal of School Health, 95 (12) , 1017-1025More Information

Cartwright, M., O'Callaghan, E., Stacy, S. T., Hord, C.,Kloos, H.  (2023). Addressing the educational challenges of urban poverty: A case for solution-based research. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 8More Information

Tocci, C. Stacy, S. T., Siegal, R., Renick, J., LoCurto, J., Lakind, D., Gruber, J., Fisher, B. W.  (2023). Statement on the effects of law enforcement in school settings. American Journal of Community Psychology, 73 (3) , 360-377More Information

Wu, J., Sherida, A., Stacy, S. T., Weiss, J., Heintschel, M.  (2022). Maximizing youth leadership in out-of-school time programs: Six best practices from the Youth-Driven Spaces project. Journal of Youth Development, 17 (3) , 70-89More Information

Crisman, T.L., Acevedo Polakovich, I.D., Al Zoughbi, L.A., Stacy, S.T., Ogdie, S.E., & Obeid, S.  (2020). The mixed method, open ended volunteer experiences (MOVE) assessment: A process for monitoring the experiences of out of school time volunteers. Afterschool Matters, 33, 42-49

Stacy, S. T., Castro, K. M. Acevedo Polakovich, I. D.  (2020). The cost of youth voices: Comparing the feasibility of Youth GO against focus groups. Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 1 (1) More Information

Stacy, S. T., Acevedo Polakovich , I. D., Rosewood, J.  (2018). Youth GO: An approach to gathering youth perspectives in out of school time programs. Afterschool Matters, 28, 34-46

Acevedo Polakovich, I. D. Spring, H. E., Stacy, S. T., Nordquist, E. A., Normand, M. M.  (2017). Engaging Latino fathers into Early Head Start: A review of the literature. Children & Youth Services Review, 82, 347-353More Information

Stacy, S. T., Cartwright, M., Arwood, Z., Canfield, J. P., Kloos, H.  (2017). Addressing the math-practice gap in elementary school: Are tablets a feasible tool for informal math practice?. Frontiers in Psychology, 8 (179) More Information

-2021 Graduate Certificate in Urban Education, Michigan State University, , East Lansing, MI