It is the key point that the mechanism of coal mine roof stability is in the field of roadway control. As the main roof type of coal mine roadway, the failure process of layered roof is always difficult to determine. In this paper, based on the assumption of beam structure, the failure of layered roadway roof was divided into two types, bending-tension failure and bending-shear failure. The area of stress and deformation and the fracture criterion were obtained. Furthermore, the failure modes of roadway rock beam under constant load and variable load were analyzed. Finally, the failure process of layered roof was obtained by numerical simulation in each stage, the stress form of roof internal element was basically consistent with the theoretical analysis.