This paper describes the contribution the analysis of visual design can make to a critical reading of educational texts. Drawing on recent work on visual design, the paper analyses the composition of a newspaper advertisement seeking responses to an educational report. It illustrates the way elements of composition work to present a particular reading path, constructing a hierarchy of meanings across the text. This hierarchy of meanings reinforced the Queensland Government's preferred discourse on standards in schools. The paper shows how an analysis of the visual elements adds to the discursive mapping of the advertisement. It argues that the analysis of visual elements should be included in a critical discourse analysis of educational texts in order to gain a deeper understanding of the discourses that construct and produce meanings about educational policies and practices.