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 · CV

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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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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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., Altman, C., Shnitzer-Meirovich, S., & Ben-David Hadar, I. (2025). Impact of bilingual intervention on Arabic-Hebrew speaking children: investigation of the dynamics between SES and bilingualism. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 28(9), 1035-1055. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2025.2528967

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