Towards a scientific interpretation of the social effectiveness of education

The article substantiates the problem of the social effectiveness of education as the main scientific and practical product and, at the same time, as the area of theoretical integration of the sociology of education. Its solution is a prerequisite for overcoming bureau-pathologies and the transition from universal and bureaucratic management to scientific management of education. The approach to the social effectiveness of education is disclosed on the basis of the concept of its institutional functions, as the ratio of socially significant results to the total costs (including intangible) of education. The interpretation of this problem involves: determining the methodological role of sociology in solving this theoretical and applied problem; taking into account the entire spectrum of institutional functions (impact on all spheres of society, delay in results in time; irreducibility to a market service or pedo-centric and "competence" schemes); interdisciplinary interaction for the conceptualisation of social costs and results. The absence of the concept of "social effectiveness of education" in the current legislation of the Russian Federation creates a normative space for bureaupathologies in educational policy. Bureaucrats replace the public efficiency of education – a multi-component criterion of management quality – with project management that is advantageous to them. They ignore the extensive responsibility of education in society, breaking up its management into short projects, and in this the bureaucrats´ actions merge with neoliberal “modernisations” and pedo-centric “reforms”, leading education to a crisis, waste of state resources, and lagging behind in global competition. The author comes to the conclusion that in order to solve the problem of efficiency, a methodology for analysing public costs and results of education within the framework of its institutional functions is necessary. Successful development of the concept of public efficiency will ensure the accelerated development of the sociology of education in Russia against the background of global trends of shallow topics and theoretical disintegration of this branch of science. The latter, in the author's opinion, fully meets the priorities of Russian society, education and science.