2020 News Stories

Assistant Professor receives AERA 2020 Best Paper Award

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 8, 2020) — College of Education Assistant Professor Dr. Veselina Lambrev, PhD, was awarded the 2020 Paper Award by the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) International Studies Special Interest Group (SIG). 

Comprised of more than 25,000 members, AERA is an international organization dedicated to enhancing the field of education by encouraging scholarly inquiry, while also promoting the dissemination and application of research results in a practical manner. Seeking to advance knowledge about education, AERA members include faculty, researchers, graduate students and other professionals who use their skills and expertise to bring forth research findings that serve the public good.

Dr. Lambrev’s submitted research paper titled, “Targeted Policies, Missed Possibilities: Roma and Non-Roma Stakeholders’ Views on Bulgaria’s Early Childhood Education Reforms,” addresses anti-Romaism as a particular form of racism that militates against the inclusion of Roma in modern European society and pathologizes minority students in spite of recent policy reforms. Co-authors of the paper include Early Childhood Education Professors Anna Kirova, PhD, and Larry Prochner, PhD, from the University of Alberta. 

Prior to being an assistant professor in Program Development at the College of Education, Dr. Lambrev spent eight years teaching and advising at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, in the areas of leadership, research and socio-cultural contexts of education. Her research interests focus on professional doctorate preparation in education, equity, qualitative research and the education of Romani people in Europe.

When asked about her recent achievement, Dr. Lambrev said her paper reflects the role of educators as agents of change for individuals across the world. 

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” Dr. Lambrev said. “I feel it represents the mission of our College of Education—to transform the lives of children, families and communities, especially those that have been historically underserved, both locally and globally.” 

Dr. Lambrev will be honored at the AERA Annual Meeting in April during the International Studies SIG’s Business Meeting.