This article attempts to introduce a new paradigm of education modernization. The education system should become a key socialization institution, and it must play a leading role in forming the values, norms, attitudes, and behavioral stereotypes of the Russian population. The author shows the important effect of education on various trends in society’s development, such as social consolidation, the formation of civil identities of different social groups and ethnic cultures, social trust, successful socialization of upcoming generations, and social stratification of the Russian population. The author stresses that the sociocultural modernization of education would benefit individual, communal and national viability, and these effects should be taken into account while designing programs for the long"term socio"economical development of Russia, including the federal development program.