Scholarly analysis in the sociology of education has burgeoned in recent decades. "Frontiers in Sociology of Education" aims to provide a roadmap for sociologists and other social scientists as they set bold new directions for future research on schools. In Part 1 of this forward-looking volume, the authors present cutting-edge research to set new guidelines for the sociological analysis of schools. In Part 2, notable social scientists, historians, administrators and educators provide a wide-ranging array of perspectives on contemporary education to insure that scholars make creative and broadly informed contributions to the sociological analysis of schools. The contributors to this volume examine events currently influencing education including: globalization, expansion of educational access, the changing significance of religion, new family structures, and curriculum reform. "Frontiers in Sociology of Education" offers an innovative collection of research and ideas aimed at inspiring new analyses of schools better linked to changing societal conditions. This book contains 23 chapters: (1) Improving the Interaction Between Sociological Research and Educational Policy (Maureen T. Hallinan); (2) The Future of the Schooled Society: The Transforming Culture of Education in Postindustrial Society (David P. Baker); (3) Frontiers in Comparative and International Sociology of Education: American Distinctiveness and Global Diversity (Claudia Buchmann); (4) Toward a Theory of the Political Construction of Empty Spaces in Public Education (Pamela Barnhouse Walters); (5) Methodological Transactionalism and the Sociology of Education (Daniel A. McFarland, David Diehl, and Craig Rawlings); (6) Designing Instruction and Grouping Students to Enhance the Learning of All: New Hope or False Promise? (Adam Gamoran); (7) Getting Ideas into Action: Building Networked Improvement Communities in Education (Anthony S. Bryk, Louis M. Gomez, and Alicia Grunow); (8) Improving Teacher Quality: A Sociological Presage (Barbara Schneider, Erin Grogan, and Adam Maier); (9) Perfectionist Dreams and Hidden Stratification: Is Perfection the Enemy of the Good? (James M. Rosenbaum, Janet E. Rosenbaum, and Jennifer L. Stephan); (10) Changing Family, Changing Education (Laura Hamilton, Regina Werum, Lala Carr Steelman, and Brian Powell); (11) Creating Our Future: Some Challenges for American Precollegiate Education (George W. Bohrnstedt); (12) Some Potential Contributions of Social Psychology to Public Education in the Face of the Current Disinvestment in Education (Karen S. Cook); (13) From Data to Actionable Evidence: How Sociologists Can Drive School Reform (Paul Goren and Emily Krone); (14) Grasping the Past to Inform the Present (Patricia Albjerg Graham); (15) Reforming General Education and Diffusing Reform (Daniel J. Myers); (16) The Rise and Fall of Civic Education in American Schools (Sandra Day O'Connor); (17) Improving Grades: Urban Public Schools, Racial and Socioeconomic Segregation, and the Promise of Innovation (James M. Quane and William Julius Wilson); (18) Policymaking and Research (Diane Ravitch); (19) Sociology for the Future Historian (William Reese); (20) How the Sociology of Education Can Help Us Better Understand Religion and Morality (Christian Smith); (21) Thoughts on Reform and the Sociology of Education: Toward Active Engagement (Marshall S. Smith); (22) How Would We Know If Public Colleges and Universities Are Productive? (Teresa A. Sullivan); and (23) Hispanics and US Schools: Problems, Puzzles, and Possibilities (Marta Tienda).