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The second Pittsburgh conference on the theory and practice of beginning reading, held in May 1976, is evalauted in this paper by pointing out some of the "critical incidents" that occurred at the conference and that indicated the types of interactions that must take place between reading theory and practice in the future. The paper suggests that by putting researchers in the classroom and by making theorists out of classroom teachers each group can appreciate the difficulties inherent in the other group's work. The interaction of such a situation will increase the volume of research--inadequate theories will be quickly discarded--and hasten the application of good theories into effective practice. (RL)

The purpose of this paper is to simultaneously advance theory and practice by understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on new hire engagement, along with State- and individual-level moderators of such effects. Prior research suggests starting a new job is an uncertain experience; here we theorize that the COVID-19 pandemic creates additional environmental uncertainty that leads new hires to reduce their engagement. First, we hypothesize that new hires become less engaged in uncertain times, such that engagement negatively covaries with unemployment rates caused by the pandemic. Second, drawing from strategic management theory, we test whether U.S. States that introduce stronger COVID policies help reduce uncertainty and thus enhance the engagement of new hires. Third, we theorize that the effects of the pandemic become more disruptive on new hire engagement as they gain tenure within the organization. Examining a U.S. national sample of 12,577 newly hired (90 days or less) quick service restaurant employees over nine months (January to September, 2020), we find support for these hypotheses. Together, these findings advance new research directions for understanding relationships between macro contextual influences on new hire perceptions and socialization. They also offer practical implications by helping organizations understand the importance of explicitly managing environmental uncertainty, particularly in terms of COVID policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]