Google is better than curriculum body, leading academics conclude

The damning verdict comes as the Scottish Government admitted it was "abolishing" Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) rather than simply merging it with the school inspectorate HMIe.

Sue Ellis, a reader in literacy and language at Strathclyde University, said LTS had nothing "accurate or helpful" on its website.

Last week education secretary Michael Russell published a literacy action plan which aimed to raise the levels of basic reading and writing for all ages including adult.

However Ms Ellis said: "Curriculum for Excellence gives teachers and schools freedom to choose what they do, in order to meet the needs of their pupils.

"But that freedom is of little use if teachers do not have easy acces to reliable, up-to-date, research-informed information about the content and pedagogies that are likely to be most effective with different types of pupils."

And Professor Lindsay Paterson, professor of education policy at Edinburgh University described the absence of expert advice as "disturbing".

He said teachers would be better advised to use Google if they wanted to find rigorous advice on what worked.

He added: "The LTS website does not even offer links to the excellent systematic reviews of research in literacy teachings that are available from the Institute of Education in London."

In the past six months, Ms Ellis wrote to or e-mailed LTS nine times highlighting her concerns.

She added: "Whatever the Scottish Government says about literacy being important, it's not making its policy body, LTS, prioritise it."

Des McNulty, Labour education spokesman, said: "It is clear from educational experts' comments that the government's policy body hasn't got a clue how to get decent information to teachers.

"How are teachers accessing best practice and teaching methodologies when the Scottish government's own education agency website provides much less information than the teacher could obtain for him or herself by googling for information?"

A spokesman for Mr Russell said: "Labour itself set up Learning Teaching Scotland in 2000.

"It will be replaced by a new agency, integrated with the inspectorate and tasked with improving the support schools, teachers and pupils receive. "

He added: "It's not clear why Des McNulty feels the need to attack a body Labour created, but it is remarkable that he seems entirely unaware that it is being replaced."