A 20-hour field placement is a mandatory component of EDU 200. Students must work with their instructor to determine how to accumulate hours. At least 15 hours must be completed in a public school with a supervising teacher. Counties require background checks for all field placements and NOVA cannot guarantee that students will receive a field placement. Students who have a criminal conviction in the last 5 years will most likely not be granted a field placement. Therefore, these students should not attempt to complete EDU 200 at this time. Students must request placement within the first 2 weeks of class. Students who miss the first week of class will only be allowed to request placement with special permission from the instructor. Finally, students may only request placement from one county per semester.