Educational supervision is also called educational guidance in history. Education supervision institutions or personnel supervise, inspect, evaluate and guide the education work at lower levels according to the national education policies, laws and regulations.

The National Regulations on Education Supervision (Draft for Comment) published in 2009 divides education supervision into comprehensive supervision and special supervision. In the grass-roots supervision work, sometimes the educational institutions (schools, kindergartens) within the jurisdiction are randomly supervised, which is called follow-up supervision.

Comprehensive supervision and special supervision are activities that, according to the principles and standards of supervision, use scientific methods, analyze and evaluate educational administration and school work through observation, investigation and evaluation, point out achievements and shortcomings, and put forward positive suggestions for revision, so as to continuously improve the quality of educational work.

Another definition: refers to the institutions and personnel exercising supervision power, entrusted by the government at the same level or the education administrative department at the same level, to supervise, inspect, evaluate and guide the education work of the people's governments at lower levels, the education administrative departments at lower levels and schools at all levels in accordance with the state's educational policies, policies and regulations, so as to ensure the implementation of the state's educational policies, policies and regulations and the realization of educational goals.