The claim that all students, and especially disadvantaged students, lose substantial academic ground over summer vacation has long been both an article of faith and a source of anxiety.

But a new look at the data finds no evidence that the average child loses months of learning each summer or that summer learning loss contributes much to the achievement gap.

Paul T. von Hippel, an associate professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, joins EdNext Editor-in-chief Marty West to discuss his new article, “Is Summer Learning Loss Real? How I lost faith in one of education research’s classic results.”

The EdNext Podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Stitcher and here every Wednesday.

— Education Next