She has explored ways to tailor students’ writing assignments to achieve broader learning goals.
Langer's worked "envisionment-building classrooms," sometimes called "minds-on classrooms," in which activities and assignments are designed to invite students to become engaged with the material, raise questions and build understandings pertaining to their goals.
Among her publications, Langer explained her theory of literature learning in her book Envisioning Literature (1995, 2011) and expanded her theories to explain strategies in the acquisition of knowledge more broadly in Envisioning Knowledge (2011).
Beyond her academic publications, this work is covered in her book for parents and educators alike, Getting to Excellent: How to Create Better Schools (2010).
[16] Langer married fellow literacy researcher Arthur Applebee, and the two were the first wife and husband both to reach the rank of distinguished professor within the New York State universities.