The Purpose of the Minnesota English Journal

MEJ offers expansive and interactive features, both for readers and writers, improving communication, inclusiveness, and community connectedness.

Prior to April 2014, the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English published MEJ once a year as a peer-reviewed collection of papers driven by pedagogy, theory, and research. After publication, each journal remained static, cemented in time, often relegated to the bookshelf. Writers rarely, if ever, received feedback, because readers were unable to participate in the discussion of topics broached in articles.

To keep pace with technology and the changing landscape of our professions, MEJ must effectively mirror the needs and preferences of the organization and show prospective members of MCTE will have much to gain by reading, contributing to, and interacting with MEJ.

Based upon the above discussions, we have decided upon the following priorities:

  1. Continue to peer-review longer, scholarly researched papers on theory and praxis; it is important for us to fulfill this service for the entire organization.
  2. Request teachers at all levels to share best practice and classroom narratives.
  3. Request teachers at all levels to share the means by which they assess their students’ progress, including interventions and strategies.
  4. Encourage short or long experiential articles on how to teach online effectively.
  5. Encourage short or long experiential articles on using technology to improve teaching, research, and writing.
  6. Encourage short or long experiential articles, driven or not by theory, on collaborative writing and collaborations among teachers.
  7. Encourage written efforts, short or long, by instructors (alone or in collaboration with others) engaged in the development of a culture of writing in their schools.
  8. Encourage opinion or issue-driven pieces of current interest to the profession.

To do any or all of these things effectively requires reciprocal communication between writers and readers. Therefore, we invite comments on all pieces published in MEJ.

Please refer to the “CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS” for more details on contributing to MEJ. Do not hesitate to contact us should you need further information.

Welcome to MEJ. It’s yours.

History of MEJ

We’re working to consolidate an archive of back issues and construct a history of the journal; if you have any memories, thoughts, or saved back issues of MEJ, please contact us and pass them on.

Here are some of the significant moments in the history of MEJ:

1965—the first MEJ is published.
1967—expanded and a unique focus for each issue
1983—cash prizes for featured essays (short lived)
2004—published online in PDF format
2010—became more of a peer-reviewed journal
2014—MEJ moved online in WordPress format
2015—created Facebook and Twitter pages
2022—archive of back issues added to website

List of MEJ editors, by year:
Burke Scarbrough & Lee Fisher (2024- )
Burke Scarbrough (2018-2023)
Scott Hall & Burke Scarbrough (2017)
Scott Hall & Michael MacBride (2015-2016)
Bill Dyer & Scott Hall (2014)
Brian Lewis (2011-2013)
Bill Dyer & John Banschbach (2004-2009)
John Schmit (2003)
Sandy Hayes — Student Writing Issues (2001-2004)
Jake Oetting (2000-2001)
Claus Buechmann & Robert Strandquist (2000)
Claus Buechmann (1997-1998)
John Banschbach & Gwen Griffin (1995-1997)
Gayle Gaskill (1994-1995)
John Schifsky & Nancy Lund (1989-1993)
Richard Dillman (1985-1989)
Eleanor Hoffman (1979-1985)
Anna Lee Stensland (1977-1979)
Elmer Suderman (1973-1977)
Harriet Sheridan (1967-1973)
Stanley Kegler & Duane Scribner (1966-1967)
Stanley Kegler (1965)