Research Interests

School transitions and disruption in the educational trajectory, Educational stratification,
Adolescent development and the life course.

Research with AHAA

Dissertation (May 2007)
This study follows students as they change between two separate institutional contexts-either the transition to high school or transferring from one high school to another. Within these transitions, student's course taking, social relationships and school context intersect to carve out students' experiences within schools. The point of school change provides a window of insight into how students maintain and reconfigure social relationships as the formal organization of their school changes-and the effect this has on student attainment and achievement.
Langenkamp's dissertation addresses three aspects of school change which are poorly understood. These, in turn, will help clarify the components of student agency and institutional constraints which impact academic success. First, different types of change could be more or less problematic for students, such as transitioning to high school with a cohort of classmates, transitioning to high school alone and transferring. Disentangling these types is essential to understanding fundamentals of school transitions and conditions which facilitate student success. Second, the point of school change is one where students' social worlds fundamentally shift; focusing on social relationships allows a determination of how social capital built and lost in schools affects student success. Third, the structure of schooling is used to connect school change with the ways schools shape students' social interaction and academic trajectory.

Transition to high school
Current research in this area includes the construction of student feeder patterns from middle school to high school and the impact of that transition on student social relationships and academic achievement. The following studies are ongoing: 1) how the interaction between students' feeder pattern and middle school relationships impacts students' academic achievement in high school; 2) mapping the social structure of the Add Health high schools and analyzing this structure's effect on students transitioning into those high schools; 3) analyzing levels of discontinuity in the transition to high school as it relates to adolescent weight fluctuations; 4) placing this transition within the broader context of coursetaking stratification and opportunities in high school.

Transfers during high school
Current research on high school transfers includes using statistical techniques such as propensity score matching for two separate studies: 1) analyzing the impact of disruption and timing of transfer on adolescents' academic trajectory; 2) examining the substance use of adolescents making non-normative school transitions. Both of these studies pay particular attention to race/ethnic and socioeconomic patterns and the role of the prior and current school context.

Awards and Honors

American Education Research Association (AERA) Dissertation Grant
University Continuing Bruton Fellowship Liberal Arts Graduate Research Fellowship

Papers using AHAA Data

Langenkamp, Amy G. "Following Different Pathways: Social Relationships, Achievement, and the Transition to High School.”

Langenkamp, Amy G., Frisco, Michelle L., Kenneth A. Frank, and Chandra Muller. "Non-Normative School Transitions and the Formation of New Social Relationships."

Langenkamp, Amy G., Chandra Muller, Kathryn S. Schiller, and Kenneth A. Frank. "Transferring Schools and the Impact of Disruption on the High School Educational Trajectory: A Propensity Score Approach."

Langenkamp, Amy G. and Anna Strassmann Mueller. "The Transition to High School and Adolescents' Weight Fluctuations."

Schiller, Kathryn S. Amy G. Langenkamp, and Chandra Muller. "Stratification of Opportunities during the Transition to High School: Findings from Adolescent Health and Academic Achievement."

AHAA Presentations

Langenkamp, Amy G. 2005. "What Gets Left Behind: Effects of Middle School Relationships and the Transition to High School on Beginning High School Achievement." Annual Meetings of the American Education Research Association (AERA) in Montreal, Canada.

Langenkamp, Amy G., Kathryn S. S. Schiller, and Chandra Muller. 2004. "School Attachment and the Institutional Context During the Transition to High School." Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in San Francisco, CA.

Langenkamp, Amy G., Kathryn S. Schiller, and Chandra Muller. 2004. "Disruption in the Educational Trajectory of Adolescents: Transferring During High School, Academic Performance, and Attachment to School." Annual Meetings of the American Education Research Association (AERA) in San Diego, CA.

Langenkamp, Amy G., Kathryn S. Schiller, and Chandra Muller. 2003. "Smoothing School Transitions: Social and Institutional Effects on Academic Progress." Annual Meetings of the American Education Research Association (AERA) in Chicago, IL.

Langenkamp, Amy G., Chandra Muller, Kathryn S. Schiller, and Robert Crosnoe. 2003. "School and Residential Changes: The Impact of Disruption on the High School Educational Trajectory." Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association (ASA) in Atlanta, GA.

Personal information

Amy is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After years of bike commuting, she has recently taken up the unofficial Austin, Texas sport-cycling-and completed the MS150 in April (biking from Houston to Austin). She participates in an occasional triathlon and is an avid yoga practitioner. Amy is also a mentor through Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Her little sister, Jessica, is a sophomore in high school and keeps Amy informed on the cool ways of teenage culture. Her faithful Labrador mutt, Rio, keeps her grounded.

Links

Curriculum Vitae
Amy Gill Langenkamp's PRC Webpage