During the 2013-14 school year, more than 600 students were struck in public schools each day in the United States. It's a practice that is still allowed in thousands of public schools even though it's generally prohibited in daycare centers, foster care systems and a host of other settings for children. While corporal punishment is illegal in a majority of the states, it remains deeply entrenched in the South. Ten Southern states account for more than three-quarters of all corporal punishment in public schools. Just four of those states -- Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Texas -- account for more than 70 percent. Mississippi alone is responsible for almost one-quarter of all corporal punishment. Because of its methodology, this report provides a clearer picture than previous studies of the use of corporal punishment in schools and the disparities in its application. Earlier studies have included student populations from entire states or entire districts where corporal punishment was practiced, even when it was used in only a small fraction of the individual schools within those jurisdictions. Corporal punishment rates were, therefore, skewed downward because of the inclusion of many students who, because of an individual school's policy or practice, were never subject to corporal punishment. This report, in contrast, examines only the data (student populations and paddling incidents) from schools where it is used. It relies on data from the U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), primarily from the 2013-14 school year. Using this methodology, it was found that children face a much higher likelihood of being struck than previous studies have found. Moreover, in such schools where corporal punishment is practiced, black students and students with disabilities are more likely to be struck than white students and those without disabilities. [Foreword by Derrick Johnson.]