he's in the US, you know that by the fact that he didn't mention it. people from anywhere else would have
"What counts as 'standard' is wildly different around the world."
I would give GP the benefit of the doubt here as he's referring to a more "traditional" education when compared to something like Montessori, Waldorf, Outdoor School, etc. My only experience is with schools in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and US. While these countries do have big differences, they can still be categorized together when compared to something like Montessori.
To compare and contrast between the two categories, testing does not usually happen in Montessori schools and I would consider testing a core part of traditional education.
What counts as 'standard' is wildly different around the world. Where are you based?
Eg 'standard' Kindergartens in Germany are fairly relaxed. In contrast, Kindergartens in Singapore are much more regulated. So much that even their ostensibly Montessori or Waldorf branded ones are much stricter and less play based than German 'standard' Kindergartens.