The encouraging news about public education across the country is that an amazing amount of energy is being built up around reforms that researchers believe could improve schools. Word of that progress often gets swallowed up by the unpleasant truths that still exist in our classrooms, such as the astonishingly low number of students who actually are ready for college or a career.

Still, an emerging reform movement is building and, for instance, backing the use of real-time data about students to drive classroom instruction. That movement’s been on display in Dallas the last two weeks, with new Superintendent Mike Miles’ presentation of his Destination 2020 proposal.

His plans for improving the Dallas school district include strengthening the leadership of campuses, delivering more effective teaching, and rethinking the structure of the management team. He’s wasting no time implementing his ideas, either.

Last week, numerous administrators who oversee Dallas campuses were told they must reapply for their jobs. Miles says he’s doing this so the district can improve classroom instruction. He wants to get the right team in place to oversee what happens in the classroom.

More power to him.

But as he and others within the movement press ahead, they better reassure teachers that one goal of all this energy is to help educators grow as professionals. That even includes the chatter about more honest teacher evaluations, which is one reform being promoted from California to Texas to New York. More realistic reviews will help teachers identify areas that need strengthening.

Of course, better evaluations will help principals get rid of consistently bad teachers. That’s important, but there’s no way districts can fire their way to success. They have too many teachers to do that.

Plus, most instructors are in the middle range when it comes to effective teaching. In speaking to education writers in Philadelphia, Anthony Bryk of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching explained that most educators are neither really good nor really bad.

It makes more sense to focus on turning those large numbers of middling teachers into better instructors, even though that’s not easily done. Plenty of information exists to show whether a teacher’s students are growing in various subjects. But Bryk says there’s not ample evidence that details which teaching practices are responsible.

So reformers like Miles need to start drilling down into data to see what techniques can help teachers improve. For example, some schools use guided reading strategies to help students acquire sharper reading skills. But how can teachers use that strategy well enough to drive achievement gains?

Reformers could help teachers develop their craft in other ways, too.

A strong rapport with a teacher can help flip the switch in a child’s mind. I certainly saw that in my education and am seeing that in my own children’s experience. And the good educators get this. As I left his office last week, the passionate Tony Tovar at Sunset High School in Oak Cliff, Texas, emphasized the trust aspect of teaching.

But not all teachers know how to create bonds with their students. That’s where coaching by an insightful principal or mentor can pay off.

Finally, here’s one more way reformers can make sure teachers know they are trying to help them: Create an environment within individual schools where educators feel like they are learning as adults. Stephen Tozer, who specializes in the emerging field of school leadership, told the same group of education writers that instructors need to feel they are growing, too.

Tozer drew upon his work at the University of Illinois-Chicago to highlight several ways to create an adult learning environment. They include giving teachers a say in the curriculum and making key decisions about instruction. In some school districts, teachers form book clubs or study groups to focus on their craft.

With so much talk about reform, teachers feel like they are under a microscope. But this movement can help them, too. Reformers need to keep emphasizing that point.

William McKenzie is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News.