The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of elementary school physical education teachers towards teaching character education related to the variables respect, honesty, fairness and self-discipline and to examine their attitudes towards the character development of their fourth and/or fifth grade students related to the variables respect, honesty, fairness and self-discipline. This study examined the relationship between teaching character education and student character development based on student gender and district resource capacity. This study was limited to physical education teachers who were members of the Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AHPERD) who had fourth and/or fifth grade students in their teaching assignment. This study was also limited to physical education teachers who teach in New York State. The survey was disseminated digitally via e-mail to approximately 2,400 members of AHPERD. Data was collected from 216 respondents from schools in New York State. The survey instrument yielded an 8.95 percent response rate. Results of the jury survey and factor analysis revealed that the items for the variables tolerance and responsibility did not align with those constructs therefore were eliminated from the study. The results revealed that the respondents always teach the character traits respect, honesty and fairness and frequently teach self-discipline. There were significant differences in how the respondents described student behavior based on gender. According to the respondents, the girls demonstrate respect, honesty and fairness to a greater extent than the boys. Furthermore, this study found that there were significant relationships between teaching fairness and the behavior fairness for both the boys and the girls. There were also significant relationships between teaching self-discipline and the behavior self-discipline for both the boys and the girls. The findings indicated that when the respondents were divided into low and high emphasis groups related to teaching character education, there were significant differences in how they described student behavior. Physical education teachers in the high emphasis group indicated that both the boys and the girls demonstrate the behaviors fairness and self-discipline to a greater extent when compared to the descriptions from the respondents in the low emphasis group. Finally the results of this study found significant differences in how the respondents described student behavior based on gender and district resource capacity. Respondents in low need schools indicated that both the boys and the girls demonstrate the behavior respect to a greater extent when compared to the descriptions from physical education teachers in high need schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]