Five criteria derived from an original conception of basic education are used to appraise The Essential Learning Skills Television Project and to guide the proposal of ideas to strengthen the project. It is assumed that to prepare students to cope with the challenges of daily living and citizenship, curricula must stress acquisition of skills in decision-making, i.e., making, judging, and influencing decisions. Two kinds of decisions faced by citizens are featured--decisions about factual claims, and decisions about group governance. Factual decisions may require gathering and evaluating information to choose between competing claims. Decisions about group governance may require use of both facts and value judgments. A framework to guide teaching and learning of these skills is presented. Instructional objectives, teaching procedures, and sample lessons are formulated in terms of the decision-making framework. (Author/VT)