My subjective impression is that it is very different! I have been thinking about this for some time. I was a peachy child, and although elementary school was very difficult for me socially, I don't remember being bored to tears academically. I don't think that was because the academics were particularly challenging, but rather because there was less drill and kill, more time to play, do crafts or art. And of course there were no standardized tests. I will be interested to see the other responses.