N.Y.C. schools report 84 percent attendance rate for virtual learning.

New York City’s abrupt switch to remote learning last month created myriad challenges for the nation’s largest school system. One of the thorniest issues was how to take attendance for 1.1 million public school students who were suddenly at home.

On Friday, the Department of Education provided initial data indicating that most students were still interacting with school: About 84 percent of students signed on in some way during the first week of April. Average daily attendance before the coronavirus pandemic was around 92 percent.

Each of the city’s 1,800 schools have created their own attendance plans, meaning that being marked “present” could include participating at live instruction at one school, and answering a brief question every morning at another school. Attendance during remote learning was higher for younger children, who are typically supervised by parents during the day, and lower for high school students.

About 20 percent of city schools, including some large high schools, have not yet reported their attendance data. The city will release attendance weekly.

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