I'm not sure about this one, but I don't think it's just a matter of teacher perception. It may not always happen at exactly the same point in one's education, but it signifies a period of time when the imaginative creativity of early childhood has ebbed but the creative surge of adolescence is still far off. Pretend play, for example, seems to peak around age 5, then gradually decline. With the onset of "concrete operations" (I know: this isn't really up-to-date/accurate, but it's a decent approximation), students devote a lot of time and energy to "getting it right." They play games with rules, want to learn facts and rules for how to accomplish things, etc. Mastery of culturally specific knowledge and norms is key. With the changes in adolescence, there's a return of a thrust toward novelty. The American 4th grade happens to fall right in the middle. Many teachers probably don't notice the effect if they aren't really that keen on promoting creativity anyway. Make sense?

It would be interesting to study this in the German-speaking world, where you have a sharp dichotomy between the traditional education system (bound for gymnasium) and the alternative Waldorf schools (which really strive to promote creativity, even at the expense of traditional academic subjects).

Thank you, Stephen, for your explanation. Your suggestion is my plan. :)

Would you be interested in collaborating with mixture of districts from the U.S. to see to see if the decline in creativity in the elementary schools during the 4th grade is universal? If so let talk more.

In literature I read the slump is perceive as part of development. So it should happen in all cultures all around the world.

My thought is - could it be caused by our education - thus how should we change education to help children to develop and keep their creativity. Interesting to compare school typs like  ("traditional" and Waldorf).

I believe in 4th grade in the States education tends to become more symbolic in mathematics and less visual, more procedural and individual. Science and inquiry tends to have less emphasis as students focus on the multiple choice standardized tests that are being given not just once a year - but as benchmarks. Creative thought and multiple methods are put to the side in place of the fundamentals - leaving many behind and decreasing creative thought, less value on student communication, active learning, and project base learning.

In a relatively recent study in China, the author say "our findings suggest a creativity “slump” in Chinese students similar to the American “fourth grade slump”—but much later, between 14 and 16 years of age" and conclude that "a school’s creative organizational climate has a significant impact on ...creativity":

Yi, X., Hu, W., Plucker, J. A., & McWilliams, J. (2013). Is there a developmental slump in creativity in China? The relationship between organizational climate and creativity development in Chinese adolescents. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 47(1), 22-40.

Thanks, Keith, for this paper.

According to this the slump could be a educational thing but not caused by human adolescence...

Find the manuscript here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264585056_Is_There_a_Developmental_Slump_in_Creativity_in_China_The_Relationship_Between_Organizational_Climate_and_Creativity_Development_in_Chinese_Adolescents

(Going to read everything in Journal fo Creative Behavior :) )

Article Is There a Developmental Slump in Creativity in China? The R...

The TIMMS indicates that students go to school with curiosity and and creativity and show a decline by firth grade (in Brazil SC IU hence and math). Science is basically not taught in elementary school until about fourh grade. Then, it is taught by teachers who have little science background and poor science experiences in their high school science fair years and the large lecture-based college courses that sort out the science majors from those who go into education. Secondary teachers and science majors go on to courses with research and lab methods that are more meaningful. The traditional classroom management obedience and compliance model dominates elementary education which stickers learning and motivation as well as creativity. Schools that use a project/thematic based curriculum fare much better.

Thanks Miguel.

Have you got some papers about the slump in Brazil?

The parenthetical above is an auto correct typo I did not check before submitting. It was meant to say (science and math).

I'm pointing you to Yong Zhao's work because he casts a clear light on the matter http://zhaolearning.com/.  Yong argues that Kindergarten (5 year old) students arrive at school with creative dispositions and schools kill most of their creativity by the time they reach their upper elementary grades.  Most of their creativity is killed by the time they graduate.  Moreover, he found a negative relationship between confidence and enjoying certain curriculum domains and PISA scores; the higher the PISA score - the more students hated math and had less confidence in math. All this has resulted in national education reform policies in Asian countries with specific direction to pay more attention to creativity and less on preparing for high stake tests.  In fact, Singapore is worried because -  their PISA scores are at the top and their teenage suicide rates are at the top. 

Other researchers are worth noting: Ron Beghetto http://education.uconn.edu/person/ronald-beghetto/ and James Kaufman http://www.jamesckaufman.com/

Both researchers provide incredible insights in teaching and leading for creativity.  My interest largely lies in leading for creativity http://educationcreationgroup.com/

I've had the pleasure of working with these two creativity researchers in two capacities: one as a creativity researcher and one as a practitioner.  Teachers and leaders in my school district are willing and able to learn how to teach for creativity and teach for mastery of learning standards.

The biggest problem seems to be a void in higher education and we need to merge epistemology and discourse between  ed leadership and psychology with an emphasis on motivational theory and creativity.  It's missing in our teacher preparation programs and in ed. leadership programs.  All the while this issue is being addressed by researchers in the private business sector http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6409 and by psychologists.  

There is so much to learn, I have so much to say - but - for sure - your question is important and timely. 

There are sociocultural implications as well. In the US and other imperialist countries, white supremacy invokes hegemonic processes that keep the masses "controlled" or in their place away from privilege. We know how meaningful learning occurs, we know experiential learning from Dewey and other constructivists, but it does not make it into the teacher education departments because the effects of years of schooling have a major controlling impact on many of those who will earn their doctorates, even when they do so in areas of critical pedagogy, equity and social justice areas. I have worked at two universities and I saw how we all espoused some form of social justice pedagogy, we were constrained by the university policies (including tenure student evals) and our own colonized minds by the very powerful lived experiences from K-16. Of course, these are my opinions only and this does not directly address the original question, but I am glad to interact with anyone who questions the status quo and negative impact of schooling on our students/citizens. 

I agree.  Student demographics in Laton Unified, Laton CA, USA  are: 88% Hispanic, 4% African American, 4% white, 4% other.