The article attempts to present a holistic view of the theory, practice and history of the development of public education in the modern Volga Federal District in the chronological framework of the second half of 19-20th centuries. In order to achieve the presented goal of the research, we used theoretical methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization, modeling, abstraction, classification, systematization, periodization) and historical and pedagogical methods of research, namely, comparison and contrast (comparativist), historical and structural and historical and typological. Within the geographical framework of the Volga Federal District as a complex sociocultural region with the cohabitation and interaction of different nationalities and confessions, the history of education in a holistic form has not been considered before. The authors proposed modern scientific and pedagogical methodological approaches to the analysis of the history of education of the region represented: pedagogical axiology, pedagogical regionalism, pedagogical comparativism, pedagogical synergetic, systemic-activity approaches. For the first time, the theory and practice of public education in the modern Volga Federal District are considered in the context of a unified historical and pedagogical process (without the traditional division into pre-revolutionary and Soviet stages). In addition to theoretical results of the historical and pedagogical research and practical: the formation of a bank of archival materials on the history of education in the republics and regions of the Volga Federal District; publication of the textbook “History of Public Education in the Volga Federal District”; publications in peer-reviewed journals devoted to the study of educational development in the Volga Federal District; organization and conduct of the Pedagogical Festival of Student Science of the Volga Federal District republics; as well as the preparation and production of a series of television programs about the history of the development of public education in the republics and regions of the Volga Federal District.