Abstract
This research aimed to find out the specific types of collaborative learning strategies teachers used when teaching reading comprehension at SMPN 2 Sungai Penuh and challenges that teachers faced when teaching reading comprehension by using collaborative learning strategies. It is a descriptive qualitative study. Observation and interviews were utilized as instruments by the researcher to collect data. Teachers who teach in grade eight and students in grade eight at SMPN 2 Sungai Penuh took part in this research. There are 35 students consisting of seven classes. This research does not require any special treatment during the teaching and learning process. Based on analyzing data, the researcher found that collaborative learning strategies that teachers used in teaching reading comprehension were group discussion, think-pair-share, partner reading, shared reading, collaborative strategic reading, and jigsaw reading. There are many challenges that teachers faced when implementing collaborative learning strategies in teaching reading comprehension. They are, students do not have their own awareness of the assignments that have been given, many students have low abilities in reading skills, such as pronunciation and vocabulary, many students do not understand vocabulary, and misunderstand the meaning of text, such as adjectives, nouns, verbs, and adverbs, and limited time in teaching reading comprehension.