This study by SRI of science offerings among publicly funded afterschool programs in California found that programs benefited from having an outside partner to provide science-based resources. Public afterschool sites with external partners—most of which provided professional development—offered more frequent science, and more inquiry-based science experiences. The study also found that local resources and agencies were just as beneficial as organizations from outside the area. For example, the study found that “If a program is in a rural area, it is just as advantageous to partner with a local college or a volunteer organization that’s working on a community garden – which makes enlisting support a realistic goal for most after-school programs.”