Iris BenDavid-Hadar

Education Finance Policy

I study education finance policy - how resources are allocated to schools, how funding formulae are designed, and what that means for equity in educational outcomes. My work moves between academic research and practice: it has directly informed a funding-formula reform by Israel’s Ministry of Education, and I regularly advise policymakers in Israel and internationally.

Bio · Papers · Media · Policy · Research · LEAD · Forum · DEAR-U

Recently

LEAD: Learning for Strategic Development - I led this ISF-funded international workshop at Bar-Ilan (May 2025), bringing together scholars including Prof. Martin Carnoy (Stanford) and Prof. Bruce D. Baker (University of Miami). Details →

I currently serve as a reviewer for UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring PEER profiles on financing for equity in Israel (pre-primary, primary/secondary, and higher education).

Hear me on Bar Daat (בר-דעת), Bar-Ilan University’s official podcast, discussing teacher pay policy in Israel. More media & press →

Recent publications include work on fiscal decentralization and equity in local education finance, bilingual education funding, and early childhood education policy in Israel. Full list →

Fields of Interest

State Competitiveness

STAC Research Group

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Education Finance Policy

LEAD Research Group

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Cohesiveness

EDS Research Lab: Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice

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Recent Publications

Shilo, Y., & BenDavid-Hadar, I. (2026). Early Childhood Education Policy and Children Rights: Examining the Israeli Reform. Early Childhood Education Journal, 54(6), 4893-4906. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-026-02120-z

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Krubiner, O., & BenDavid-Hadar, I. (2026). Choice and equity in education: the role of specialised schools. Educational Research, 68(1), 38-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2025.2593257

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Malki-Levy, S., Bendavid-Hadar, I., & Altman, C. (2026). Additional language learning policy for immigrant students: a comparative research. Language Policy, 25(1), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10993-025-09755-5

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Betser-Nahum, Y., & BenDavid-Hadar, I. (2025). The municipalities efficiency in Israel: The case of the provision of educational services. International Journal of Educational Development, 117, Article 103370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103370

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All Publications

Do teachers get paid fairly for their effort?

Hear me on Bar Daat (בר-דעת), Bar-Ilan University’s official podcast, discussing teacher pay policy in Israel

More Media & Press

Updates

Kan Reshet Bet, Seder Yom with Keren Neubach - panel on the education budget

Kan Reshet Bet - Seder Yom (סדר יום) with Keren Neubach: panel on the education budget with MK Miki Rosenthal (September 2014).

Listen to the panel

01/09/2014

Dahan Center panel: Higher education and reducing gaps

Dahan Center - Higher education and reducing gaps, panel discussion (2016).

Watch the panel

Yediot Ahronot: Achievement gap research, with Dr. Yossef Klein

Yediot Ahronot - Achievement gap research, with Dr. Yossef Klein (March 2016).

Read the article (Hebrew)

01/03/2016

Ynet: Equitable resource allocation and the achievement gap

Ynet - Equitable resource allocation and the achievement gap (November 2017).

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01/11/2017

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