The strategic goal of the long-range social and economic development of the Russian Federation is that of rising to an economic and social level in keeping with Russia's status as a leading world power in the 21st century, a country that occupies an advanced position in the global economic competition and reliably provides for the nation's security and the exercise of the constitutional rights of its citizens. One of the key conditions that are necessary for the long-range and mid-range social and economic development of the country has to be the modernization of education. In addition to developing human capital, education is also called on to play a crucial role in the social consolidation of Russian society. In this paper, the authors examine the current state of the Russian system of education. Their analysis leads to the conclusion that there is no continuity between preschool education and general education, and any effective connections between them are either absent or not very strongly established. The authors stress that the key role in transforming education into one of the chief factors for the achievement of harmony in Russian society has to be played by the sociocultural modernization of education. The implementation of this process will require the drafting and adoption of new generation educational standards as conventional norms whose implementation will meet the social expectations of the individual, the family, society, and the state with respect to education.