Status changes to In Progress in real time in TEST but not in PROD — why is there a difference?

Summary:

We have observed a difference in behavior between TEST and PROD for past-dated offerings.

In TEST:

• When a learner is enrolled into a past-dated offering, the assignment status changes to In Progress immediately in real time.

In PROD:

• The assignment remains Not Started until the scheduled process “Update Assignment Status on Date-Driven Activities” runs.
• Only after the process runs does the status move from Not Started to In Progress.

Both environments have the same schedule for this process.
Does anyone know why TEST updates in real time but PROD waits for the process run?
Is there any setting or background job that can cause this difference?