While national progress on aspects of academic excellence (the achievement gap, end-of-grade testing, standardized college placement exams, and so on) is a main feature of today's education agenda, character education is never far from commensurate policy attention. Because the notion of character is value-laden, it can be difficult to craft a shared definition. In this policy brief, the author discusses four approaches to character education: (1) permeating core values; (2) direct instruction; (3) character development; and (4) active engagement. Highlighted are current challenges to character education. (Contains 6 endnotes.)