LEARN OR DIE Calls for Education Revolution

INDIANAPOLIS -

An educational system worthy of 21st-century citizens must be created soon. That's the mission presented by 21st Century National Road Scholars in their new book, "Learn or Die."

The scholars, members of the Institute for 21st Century Learning, have the goal of promoting and producing results in a national conversation about education and its relationship to lifelong learning among citizens of this interconnected society and do it in a little more than a decade - July 4, 2026 - coinciding with the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Just as that document put the world on notice that residents of the 13 Colonies considered themselves created equal and entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the institute's scholars put themselves on the line, creating a reference tool designed to advance the national conversation about education policies in the 21st century.

"Learn or Die: 21st Century Community Learning" features the views of 10 authors, each with an important perspective on lifelong learning and its benefits in the 21st century. They cover such topics as learning imperatives of communities and ways to respond to them, approaches to achieving excellence and equity in education and community, and learning that will generate desirable community life.

The eight contributing authors, most of them senior scholars at the Institute for 21st Century Learning include:
Bill Riggs, superintendent of schools for the Mount Vernon Community School Corp;
Dave Mueller, president and managing partner of KCDM Associates Inc., an organization development and career management consulting firm;
Francis Duffy, professor of Public Administration at Gallaudet University and co-director of FutureMinds: Transforming American School Systems;
Marianne Inman, president emerita of Central Methodist University;
Wilma Longstreet, past dean of education and nationally recognized authority on pre-K to life curriculum and future social-economic trends;
Nelson Noggle, executive director and owner of the Centers for the Advancement of Educational Practices;
Christine Owens, director of Cumberland's Department of Planning & Development; and
Kim Brand, entrepreneur, inventor and vice president of the Cumberland Redevelopment Commission.

Author John Andrew Harrold is founder and chief administrative officer of 21st Century Learning Communities, LLC. He also serves as commissioner for the Cumberland Plan Commission and Cumberland Redevelopment Commission. He is a board member of the Hancock Community Education Alliance Inc. and past chairman of the administrative council at Old Bethel United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. Harrold is senior scholar for Vision Based Community Development at the Institute for 21st Century Learning. His longtime education background includes serving as state social studies consultant for the Indiana Department of Education in 1972. The former department-related positions also include director of the Division of Curriculum, chairman of Indiana's Textbook Advisory Committee for the Indiana State Board of Education and executive director of the State Board's Indiana Curriculum Advisory Council.

Author and editor George Stuckey, senior scholar for the new Global Economy and executive with the 21st Century Learning Communities, serves in the same capacity with the institute for 21st Century Learning. He worked with the city of Gary, Ind., to design a comprehensive plan for school and community improvement, served as the state's director of Staff Performance Evaluation and directed the Teacher Quality and Professional Improvement Program. Stuckey helped develop the Hammond Center for Leadership and School Reform, and he worked to create the Indiana Teacher Leadership Academy.

For additional information, please visit http://www.nextcenturylearning.com

Learn or Die: 21st Century Community Learning
John Andrew Harrold and George Stuckey
Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4575-2677-0 376 pages $17.95 US

Available at Ingram, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores everywhere.

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