Collecting and graphing performance data are important parts of the educational process. Such procedures help educators, caregivers, and other important stakeholders make data-based decisions to accelerate child progress. With school-age children, collecting and graphing data have been associated with more frequent instructional changes to better meet children's needs, increased quality of Individual Education Plan (IEP) objectives, and increased child performance. Although early childhood educators report that data collection is important, research suggests data collection practices in early care and education settings are inconsistent, and lack of skill has been reported as one of the barriers to frequent and systematic use of data. The purpose of this article is to describe basic elements of collecting performance data to promote systematic progress monitoring and improve child outcomes in early care and education settings. Although the topic of collecting data could include many technical aspects, the goal of this article is to provide the reader with basic knowledge needed to collect meaningful child performance information through identification of important, valued, and functional behaviors that are then targeted for instruction or intervention. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)