An annual matchmaking ritual is nearly complete in hundreds of elementary schools around Wisconsin.

Next week, elementary students in Madison and most Wisconsin school districts will learn the names of their classroom teachers — a culmination of one of the most important and least-understood processes in education.

Richard Halverson, a UW-Madison education researcher and an expert in school leadership, said his research has found that coming up with those classroom rosters "turns out to be quite an art form."

"It is something that is sort of mysterious and that parents have a big stake in," Halverson said. "And schools do, too."

Two students at Emerson Elementary on Madison's East Side, fourth-grader Lilly Jenssen and her brother, Owen, a first-grader, said they're hoping to be assigned to teachers who are nice — although Owen allowed that "sometimes strict teachers teach you more things."

Among the top factors considered at schools when classroom assignments are drawn up:

• A student's learning style and personality.

• A teacher's teaching style — mastery over content as well as ability to nurture students who, for example, are shy or fragile.

• Whether a student requires special education or language services — classifications that will affect the assignment of specialists within the school.

• Whether the mix of students will work harmoniously and will help each other learn.

"It's a tough balance," Madison School Board President Arlene Silveira said. "It's probably one of the most emotional issues to many parents."

Decision up to district

Determining which Wisconsin students are assigned to which teachers is left to local schools, free of regulation by the federal No Child Left Behind law or state Department of Public Instruction.

The Madison School District dropped a widespread practice of attempting to balance classroom rosters on the basis of race and gender after a student's parents filed a federal lawsuit in the 1999-2000 school year alleging a school's classroom and seating assignment practices were racially discriminatory, said Dan Mallin, the district's legal counsel. The classroom assignment claim was dismissed by a judge, and the seating assignment claim was settled and dismissed.

However, one Madison principal, Colleen Lodholz at Sennett Middle School, said she hadn't heard of the district's ban on using race and gender until informed of it by a reporter. The school's teachers long have included race, gender, data on which students are from low-income families and other criteria to devise rosters, Lodholz said.

"It works great," Lodholz said. Sennett's reliance upon teachers to build classroom rosters also is unusual.

Principals typically create classroom rosters after gathering information from parents, teachers and other staff.

Assignment matters

Classroom assignment is a critical decision.

Nationwide research shows that one of the most important factors in a student's academic success is the relationship with a teacher, said Adam Gamoran, director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UW-Madison.

Parents often want to have a voice in who will teach their child — and "if you don't allow parents to have any say in their classroom teacher ... you're ignoring a crucial piece of evidence that may have an effect over their chances of success," Gamoran said.

But there are risks, he added, that the voices of a school's most highly educated parents could become so strong that the needs of students from disadvantaged families may be ignored.

In Madison, most elementary schools invite parents every spring to offer descriptions of their children's learning styles to give school officials information for making classroom assignments.

Parents aren't allowed to request specific teachers, yet some parents do on forms or through separate contacts with principals or teachers.

Martha O'Brien, mother of Lilly and Owen Jenssen, last year requested that Lilly, an adoptee from China, be matched with a family friend who was the only Asian among the third-grade teachers — a request that was granted. O'Brien said Lilly thrived. For the coming school year, O'Brien and husband Mark Jenssen didn't make any specific requests.

O'Brien said "mostly I just look for dedicated, interested, flexible, someone who really loves teaching and loves the kids. I think that makes the best teachers."

Listening to parents

David Bray, who served as principal of Madison's Muir Elementary for eight years and has headed Huegel Elementary for a decade, said 60 percent to 70 percent of parents complete a form each spring to provide information about students to school officials.

"I do read every single one," Bray said. "We do want parents to have a part in the process."

Only a few of the parents of the school's 480 students request a specific teacher, or seek to avoid one, he said. "Generally we can work something out," Bray said.

If parents aren't happy with his decision, they can appeal to Sue Abplanalp, an assistant superintendent overseeing the elementary schools.

Deborah Hoffman, principal of Lincoln Elementary and a former Franklin Elementary principal, said that when creating class rosters she considers whether the students will mesh with the teachers, because academic achievement suffers if a child is unhappy or feels insecure.

Done right, she said, the classroom assignment opens avenues for struggling students to learn not just from the teacher, but from peers. Those more advanced students, in turn, learn even more — by teaching the material to their classmates and by learning about tactics learners use to overcome obstacles.

"I can't imagine using a computer program to do my placements," said Hoffman, whose methods have been studied by UW-Madison's Halverson and other researchers.