On August 22, 2011, the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services (HHS) jointly released the final application for the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, including priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria. RTT-ELC is a competitive state grant program designed to reward states that create comprehensive plans to transform early learning systems with better coordination, clearer learning standards, and meaningful workforce development. Several aspects of the RTT-ELC program have implications for state data systems and would support effective data use. It also establishes definitions for Essential Data Elements for early learning and development data systems. This document summarizes these provisions. (Contains 3 footnotes.)