Why doesn't anyone every talk about creativity?

When trying to figure out what to write about for this blog entry, I tried to dig into my background knowledge and find a jumping off point. I asked myself...when have I talked about creativity in my undergrad/graduate courses? When has it come up in grade level meetings? When has it been mentioned during professional development workshops? Where is it mentioned in the standard course of study I teach? Unfortunately the lack of answers that came from these questions didn't provide a platform from which to jump. I could talk about the ways in which my job has challenged my creativity or my enriching experiences as a child, but I believe there will be time for that in subsequent entries.
Instead, I think I'll focus on an irony the above questions led me to consider: in an educational environment focused on improving problem solving skills, why isn't anyone talking about creativity? I constantly sit in graduate school classes, grade level meetings, and workshops listening to people talk about how bad students are at solving problems. We discuss how they should be relevant to the real world, how they should be differentiated so everyone can experience some challenge and success, and how they should include an element of collaboration. Creativity has been conspicuously absent from the discussions surrounding what a curriculum focused on problem solving should include.
This can even be said for the curriculum and development course I just took this summer. Throughout all my research and readings for the course, I didn't come across anything that promoted or discussed the need to design a curriculum that cultivates creativity. When I do here the word mentioned, it is usually in reference to the teacher's need to develop her creativity. Creativity is discussed as something that should be modeled not taught or cultivated through carefully designed lessons.
One hypothesis I have for the lack of discussion about creativity is its vague nature. It is hard to define and even more difficult to assess. It is difficult to open oneself up to the creative natures of others because solutions may not always seem logical. I think it is difficult for teachers to create an environment in which creativity can truly flourish. A ceiling can be created because of the teacher's own creative opinion and need to grade students against standards. Classroom instruction and assessment should be aligned, but when the goal is to foster creativity, how is that measured? How does that fit with the standards we are contracted to follow?
Students are growing up in school districts that care about test scores. Whether their teachers ascribe to the hype or not varies, but students are always aware of the pressure to perform. When so much pressure is placed on the right answer, creativity is stifled. Students solve problems to get them right, not to find solutions. The process of developing solutions requires creativity, but when the emphasis is put on the product students are not given the freedom to take risks. Freedom is necessary for our students to be creative.
Creativity should be part of the discussion in schools and teacher education programs, especially in an educational environment that promotes problem solving. Instead of trying to get our children to solve problems, they should be developing ways to solve them. These processes are the things that are transferable and flexible; they are what make children good problem solvers.