Teacher retention has become one of the most pressing challenges in education today. As educators work to strengthen and further develop the education system, school districts across the country are asking the same question: How do we keep good teachers in the classroom?

For Andrea Terrero Gabbadon, EDU '09, '22, that question isn’t just theoretical. It shapes her work every day. Gabbadon, who earned both her BSEd and PhD at Temple, leads district and regional professional learning initiatives and organizational strategies that support and retain teachers of color through educator affinity groups and leadership development spaces. In this work, she partners with school districts to help educators build professional networks, strengthen identity and create supportive school environments that promote long-term engagement. Therefore, her work centers on supporting educators of color, strengthening school climate and helping schools build conditions where teachers can actually remain in the school and grow.

That work in part, she says, traces back to her education at Temple University.

Beginning as a Temple University College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) undergraduate student, Gabbadon later returned and completed doctoral studies in the college’s policy and organizational studies PhD program, where she focused on urban education. After teaching, serving in school leadership roles and completing graduate training elsewhere, coming back to Temple was intentional.

“Philadelphia was always the case study,” she shared. “If we can understand how systems work here, we can figure out how to address these challenges anywhere.”

At Temple, Gabbadon learned to look beyond quick explanations for educational inequities and instead examine the systems and histories shaping urban schools. The program challenged her to think deeply about how research connects to real communities and real people.

“Temple helped me move beyond surface level explanations,” she said. “It pushed me to really understand the systems, power and history behind what we see in schools.”

As a first-generation doctoral student, mentorship played a key role in shaping her experience. CEHD faculty encouraged her to see herself as a scholar and to pursue work that was grounded and connected to community needs. That support led to research projects that eventually became both her dissertation and a nationally-recognized book, Support and Retain Educators of Color: 6 Principles for Culturally Affirming Leadership, focused on sustaining the educator workforce.

One lesson from that time still guides her today: “Scholarship should be done with communities, not for communities.”

That belief is clear in how Gabbadon approaches her current work. Rather than focusing only on recruiting teachers of color, she emphasizes the importance of school environments, leadership practices and long-term support.

“The work isn’t just about bringing educators of color into schools,” she explained. “It’s about creating the conditions that allow them to stay and thrive.”

Despite her roles as a researcher, author, consultant and program leader, Gabbadon remains closely connected to teaching. Whether she is mentoring aspiring school leaders, facilitating professional learning or working directly with educators, teaching remains central to how she sees herself. Presently, she is an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania School Leadership Program and additionally teaches a newcomer English class in her community.

“I will always see myself as a teacher,” she said, “no matter what role I’m in.”

That perspective reflects the heart of Temple’s urban education programs, which is to prepare educators to understand complex systems while also taking action within them. For Gabbadon, identifying problems has never been the end goal.

“We analyze problems,” she said, “but we don’t stay there. The focus is always on solutions.”

As her work continues to shape conversations about educator retention locally and nationally, Gabbadon remains grounded in the values she carried from Temple: collaboration, humility and shared responsibility.

“If we want to make the system better, especially for young people furthest from opportunity,” Gabbadon said, “we have to bring our gifts to the table and work alongside others who are already doing this work.”