The phrase "assign students" is correct and commonly used in written English.
It is typically used when talking about giving students a task or responsibility, or placing them in a specific group or class. Example: "The teacher will assign students to research and present a topic for next week's class."
The implementation of the H/P/F grading, when applicable, used a fixed distribution of test scores to assign students into the honors group, such that honors assignments were restricted to a fixed percentage of students.
Why not just assign students to the next available teacher?
3. Assign students to one of four groups and cast them as either Republicans or Democrats.
Mr. Mills has threatened to take over the district or dissolve it and assign students to neighboring schools.
In some colleges, it has become common for professors to assign students to create work that appears on Wikipedia.
(Writing teachers should assign students to contribute reviews to Yelp; the students would get instant publication and feedback).
Even in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, school officials use the racial demographics of a neighborhood alongside socioeconomic factors to assign students.
I often assign students roles in which they have to argue a side defense or prosecution with which they might disagree.
In many Southern states, administrators are struggling to comply with the new law without violating desegregation court orders, which assign students to schools on the basis of race.
After skits are written, groups should assign students to one of the characters and determine what costumes will be needed for the skit.
(The teacher may also choose to assign students to research similar cases and cite them as supporting evidence during the debate).
