The need for character education is apparent in the statistics regarding school violence, absenteeism, drop out rates, and achievement. The directive has been sent out by the government to get the job done. This manuscript examines a number of studies that claim to provide evidence that character education programs work, and others that provide evidence that is less supportive. These mixed conclusions are particularly difficult to synthesize because of conceptual and methodological weaknesses common in this area of research. In this review, rather than make a claim as to the effectiveness of character education programs, we point out that the research regarding character education has not examined evaluation questions with an empirically rigorous eye. We draw particular attention to the lack of behavioral outcomes reported in the existing research. (Contains 1 table.)