The Education Committee take evidence on the Curriculum for Excellence, hearing from the chief executives of the SQA and Education Scotland.
In the chamber more education as John Swinney and his ministers will be quizzed.
Opposition party leaders quiz Shona Robison on the delayed trauma centres.
The Scottish Tories lead a debate calling for the retention of the HIE board.
The Tories then lead a debate on preventative health interventions.
Labour MSP Richard Leonard's member's debate celebrates the 30th anniversary of the worker's occupation of the Caterpillar Plant in Tannochside.
Mr Beattie says there is a difference between making a strong recommendation and advice.
The SNP MSP asks about the power of the management board.
Dr Bill Maxwell
Mr Flanagan says the management board makes recommendations but they can be rejected.
Dr Bill Maxwell says the management board has authority and makes "authoritative recommendations".
Mr Flanagan says pedagogy and teacher practice must be the focus.
The EIS general secretary says this would be much more effective.
Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Larry Flanagan
Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Larry Flanagan says changes to the system aimed to give a pupil space for extra curricular activities.
Mr Flanagan says, if pupils are studying six subjects at S4 and six at S5, there is less space for anything else.
Image source, bbcScottish Qualifications Authority chief executive Dr Janet Brown
Scottish Qualifications Authority chief executive Dr Janet Brown says every single teacher in Scotland must know the SQA is redesigning the assessments for qualifications.
Dr Brown concedes the current mechanisms of communication are not always reaching every teacher.
Terry Lanagan from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland says the quality of the qualification is what matters to an S4 leaver.
Mr Lanagan says the quality of the qualifications is better than it was before.
Dr Bill Maxwell, Chief Executive, Education Scotland says the guidance issued to teachers was an appropriate response at the time.
Dr Maxwell says he would not pretend every piece of guidance has "hit the mark".
He says if that is the case the guidance is removed based on feedback received.
Ms Lamont says to clarify "the 20,000 pages of guidance was necessary".
Dr Maxwell says "yes".
Labour MSP Johann Lamont asks about guidance and reflects on her own practice as a teacher.
Ms Lamont asks when the implementation board realised that 20,000 pages of advice indicated that there was a flaw in the advice.
Scottish government director of learning Fiona Robertson says the advice from another of agencies was in response from the system.
Image source, bbcLabour MSP Johann Lamont
Ms Lamont asks why did people ask for more advice.
Ms Robertson says this is not a prescriptive curriculum and she does not expect all teachers to work their way through all the guidance.
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Terry Lanagan from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland says every higher education institution in Scotland said they would support the new qualifications.
Mr Lanagan says he does not know of a school in Scotland where it is not possible to do five highers in fifth year.
Image source, bbcEducation Scotland chief executive Dr Bill Maxwell
Education Scotland chief executive Dr Bill Maxwell says fundamentally what we need is schools designing curricula locally and to take advantage of the freedom the Curriculum for Excellence provides.
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Image source, ThinkstockCommittee convener calls for witnesses to avoid jargon
Education Committee convener James Dornan warns all the witnesses to avoid jargon and speak in easier language.
Labour MSP Daniel Johnson asks if Ms Robertson accepts that the Curriculum For Excellence (CFE) design is the responsibility of the management board.
Scottish government's director of learning Fiona Robertson says decisions were agreed by the those on the management board and other stakeholders.
Ms Robertson says the management board has been very clear that decisions around CFE models is the responsibility of local authorities.
Mr Johnson asks if the number of subjects a pupil is able to take at national 4/5 and higher level is the responsibility of the management board.
Ms Robertson reiterates her previous answer to say CFE modelling decisions is the responsibility of local authorities.
Terry Lanagan from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland
Terry Lanagan from the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland says teachers did not have to plough through 20,000 pages of guidance.
"That is just not the case," he says.
The Education Committee report included concerns over last year's Higher geography exam, which was described as "poor, shocking, terrible, worst ever and nothing like the specimen or previous paper" by members of the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers.
The SQA also admitted a series of mistakes in the national 5 computing science exam.
And in 2015, the pass mark for Higher maths was dropped to just 34%, and to 60% for an A grade, with the SQA admitting the exam had been too hard.
The education committee's report said the SQA had produced qualifications that had led to an "onerous workload, a breakdown in trust and threats of industrial action by teachers".
It said it had received clear evidence pointing to a breakdown in the trust of the SQA by teachers.
Committee convener James Dornan says surely someone realised that this much guidance would heavily impact on the workforce.
Committee convener James Dornan
Mr Dornan says "there seemed to be no recognition about how this would impact on the ground."
Mr Flanagan says the EIS pushed for a one year delay to changes for the introduction of qualifications but it was voted down.
The EIS general secretary says "that timeline caused real issues in schools".
The Education Committee report raised concerns about exam scripts that either contained errors or were difficult to understand.
Among its key recommendations were:
Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Larry Flanagan says communications has always been an issue with the Curriculum for Excellence (CFE).
Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) general secretary Larry Flanagan
Mr Flanagan says there has always been problems communicating information to teachers.
He says most teachers probably didn't know "20,000 pages of information was there".
"Communicating isn't the same as putting something on a website," he says.
Tory MSP Liz Smith says parents, pupils and staff have the right to know who made the decision to issue guidance at that time which is now redundant.
The Scottish government's director of learning Fiona Robertson says guidance was welcomed by ministers and management at the time.
Ms Robertson says the management board's responsibility has been to seek the views of stakeholders, advise ministers and respond accordingly.
Dr Bill Maxwell, Chief Executive, Education Scotland says guidance was issued that were welcomed by parties at the time.
Lib Dem MSP Tavish Scott says "20,000 pages of guidance were issued to teachers."
Scottish government's director of learning Fiona Robertson says the management board were responsive to the issues at the time and attempted to "de-clutter" the guidance being given to teachers.