Introduction 
This paper uses three widely used indices of the extent of democratization in an educational system: access, quality, participation. It is argued that for Barbados the issue of access has been substantially conquered; that the challenge of ensuring quality is increasingly being realized; but that in participation, defined in broad terms, the educational system has furthest to go both in conceptualization and action. Indeed it is argued that several substantive reform problems impacting on "quality" concerns will continue, unless they are seen in broad participatory terms. Parent empowerment is discussed as an instance of such a needed participatory thrust.