Kent Pekel is Superintendent of schools in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Pekel is an educational leader who has worked at the school, district, state, federal, and university levels. Throughout his diverse career, he has sought to bridge research, practice, and policy to help all young people thrive.

Prior to joining Rochester Public Schools, Dr. Pekel spent nine years as President and CEO of Search Institute, an internationally recognized not-for-profit organization that conducts applied research on education and youth development. During Dr. Pekel's tenure at Search Institute, he led the multi-year, multi-method research project that resulted in the widely used and cited Development Relationships Framework. Under Dr. Pekel's leadership, Search Institute received the Award for Organizational Excellence in Research and Programming for Youth from the Society for Research on Adolescence.

Prior to joining Search Institute in 2012, Dr. Pekel served as the founding Executive Director of the University of Minnesota’s College Readiness Consortium. While at the University, he led the design and launch of Ramp-Up to Readiness, a program for students in grades 6-12 that has been implemented in hundred of schools across country to increase the number and diversity of students who graduate from high school with the knowledge, skills, and habits for success in some form of postsecondary education. From 2000-2005, Dr. Pekel served as Executive Director of Research and Development in the Saint Paul Public Schools. Early in his career, he held several senior staff positions during the Clinton Administration, including as a White House Fellow assigned to the Director of the CIA, Special Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of State, and Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Education. Dr. Pekel began his career as a high school teacher in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Dr. Pekel holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University, a Master’s in Education from Harvard University, and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Minnesota. In 2024, Dr. Pekel received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Minnesota's College of Education and Human Development.

Pekel, K. (2023). A Rising Priority for Edtech: Relationship Building in Schools. Educational Leadership.

Scales, P. C., Pekel, K., & Houltberg, B. J. (2022). Developmental relationships and student academic motivation: Current research and future findings. In A.L. Reschly & S.L. Christenson (Ed.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (pp. 257–283). Springer.

Scales, P. C., Van Boekel, M., Pekel, K., Syvertsen, A. K., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2020). Effects of developmental relationships on middle-school students’ motivation and performance. Psychology in the Schools.

Pekel, K., Sethi, J., Muhammad, F.Z., Eisenberg, C. & Bergstrom, E. (2020). The Relationship Builder’s Guidebook: Activities and Approaches to Enhance Developmental Relationships. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.

Scales, P. C., Pekel, K., Sethi, J., Chamberlain, R., & Van Boekel, M. (2019). Academic year changes in student-teacher developmental relationships and their linkage to middle and high school students’ motivation: A mixed methods study. The Journal of Early Adolescence.

Pekel, K. (2019). Moving Beyond Relationships Matter: An Overview of One Organization’s Work in Progress. Journal of Youth Development

Pekel, K., Roehlkepartain, E. C., Syvertsen, A. K., Scales, P. C., Sullivan, T. K., & Sethi, J. (2018). Finding the fluoride: Examining how and why developmental relationships are the active ingredient in interventions that work. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 88(5), 493-502. 

Pekel, K. (2017). The Recipe for Youth Success. Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Pekel, K., Roehlkepartain, E. C., Syvertsen, A. K, & Scales, P. C. (2015). Don’t forget the families: The missing piece in America’s effort to help all children succeed. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.