In 2015, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education launched the Clinical Practice Commission. Its charge was to redefine high quality teacher preparation through clinical practice. The Clinical Practice Commission was composed of representatives from K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, and professional organizations. Fourteen of the Clinical Practice Commissioners were members of the NAPDS, and five of those were also on the NAPDS Association Leadership at that time. 

In 2018, the Clinical Practice Commission released its report called, A Pivot Toward Clinical Practice, Its Lexicon, and the Renewal of Educator Preparation. This report outlined ten proclamations for high quality clinical preparation of educators and identified PDSs as exemplary models of educator preparation (p. 9). The PA&ER Committee Chair and other NAPDS Association Leadership members attending the briefing in Washington, D.C. and shared the report with its members during a policy update in early 2018.