I'm a retired elementary teacher, and though I hate the heck out of DIBELS, I believe we both know that though nonsense words have no meaning of their own, it is the speed at which they're decoded that indicates reading speed which is a factor in comprehension.

Though I agree that it needs to be partnered with other approaches, I found that a focus on phonics yielded the best decoding and comprehension my students demonstrated. I generally kept my primary students for two years, and all but a very few of them left on at least grade level. Most of them had achieved reading levels at least one or two years above grade, and a talented two at three years above grade level.

I'd love to brag that my incredible teaching brought about those lovely results, but phonics gave me better results than Whole Language, Guided Reading, or whatever unsatisfactory reading program (I don't remember the name) our schools used with DIBELS.

What Amplify and DIBELS demonstrate is that students need intensive reading help. The children to whom I've been exposed certainly do. We don't have to follow the conclusion though, that the help they need should come from either of those programs.